Reaching Through the Mirror
by Lutair
Summary: Chapter 2: In which a girl climbs and a demon flies. T. SessKag.
1. Holes of Little Importance

**Hello: **Lutair  
**Rating:** T (so far)  
**Pairing: **Sesshomaru Kagome  
**Prompt:** Self-prompt - turn  
**Beta:** None  
**Warning:** Swearing, violence, author liberties  
Dizclaim'd.

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"_The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air_." - _Galadriel_,_ Lord of the Rings_

_**Ch. 1: **_Wherein a hole is delivered and a girl loses something of little importance

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It started, as most things of dubious, fate-touched nature do, with a dream. Or, to be more accurate, a series of nightmares, the type that led one to believe that the entire world was uplifting and rolling around, but waking up presented no change to suggest such a thing. These dreams, or haunting memories, are seldom forgotten and rarely discussed in the light of day.

_There is little light in this place, only the distant flash of white (a star? the moon?) and, forward, beyond, a ghost-trail of purest gold and its tail of white. She fumbles through the dark, bumbling over unseen obstacles in the earth, the night an oppressive blanket over her already dull human senses. It was neither hot, nor cold, and no wind blew, although the air was not stagnant. Her fingers reached out, tentative, searching, lost children in an unfamiliar place. She could not hear her own breathing, although she assumed that she was panting, or gasping quietly. Her heartbeat was also absent from the non-noise of the unusual place she had landed in, lending a particular quiet to the normal background hum that her body provided. Her eyes darted around, not frantically, but quickly, seeking something to define the landscape about her._

_A sound, possibly faint in the natural world, cracks the silence around her, sending sparks and slashes of light from its origin, and she raises a hand to defend her eyes from the onslaught. The streaks of white leave as quickly as they appear, her eyes burning in their wake. The night closes around her again, but this time there is a break in the cocoon, a faintly circular flatness standing out commandingly against the black ground that she can, now, just faintly see. She shuffles forward as quickly as the darkness will allow, falling to her knees at the edge of the opening. Her hands graze over tufts of unseen grass, her fingertips fluttering gingerly at the edge of the flatness, dampness staining them._

_Stars reflect up at her from the water, its still surface a picture of what the world should have been. The moon, a pregnant circle of opaque light, laid across its center, the stars fanning outward in a mosaic of old cequince. _

_Leaning over the side of the pool, she gazed at her reflection, wondering._

_A girl gazed back at her, her eyes bright in the natural light. Her hair shimmered faintly, its waves rolling over rounded shoulders, locks of it hanging precariously over the water, flirting with its surface. She seemed to be in awe of whatever she saw in the pool, and, belatedly, Kagome recognized this girl as herself. But… there was something off about her reflection, a tilt to the other Kagome's head, a shine in her aura. Maybe it was the colors that were off, the faint honey glow that emitted from her counterpart's eyes, the depth of the black that stained her hair, the –_

- floor meeting her face with a distinctly unkind hardness.

Blackness swam faintly before her eyes, the semi-distinct sounds of life filtering through her sleep haze. The echo of voices, the smell of something - fish? - cooking, a gentle creaking as the house shifted in its foundation. Normal sounds. Comforting sounds. Distantly, her sleep-addled mind registered that it was oddly cold for - she glanced at the clock on her dresser - 10:32 in the morning, and the soft _ptat-atat_of rain fall finally reached her ears. Groaning with exertion - and the fact that the throbbing pain from landing on her floor had finally hit her - Kagome pushed herself into a sitting position and glared blearily at the window.

Tiny hailstones beat against the glass, their a backdrop a pleasently agressive looking grey-purple.

Sighing in aggravation at the turn of the weather, she lumbered to her feet and gave her room a decisive once over before plodding out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen, the enticing smell of _yakizakana _and _oden _creeping up the stair well.

"... no, no! That does _not _go there, you bumbling fools! That is a _priceless artifact_ from the _Heian _era. It's older than your great grandmothers great grandmother!" The outraged voice of her grandfather reached her ears before she could be totally absorbed by the smell of oden, and she continued past the kitchen to the living room, down the second hall to the storage room, where her grandfather was directing the movers on where to put a rather large cardboard box.

"To the left more. The _left_! Where are you looking? No, don't touch that, put that there!" After much harassment and a few good thwacks (by a fan which he had procured for the vary purpose of directing movers) the box was situated 'adiquately' against one wall of the room and the movers where directed out of the house by her aggrieved grandfather.

With a huff and a view choice words in the movers general direction, he returned to the room, where Kagome had moved to observe the box and speculate as to it's contents. A hearty chuckle rolled from behind her and she tilted her head to her right to glance back at her grandfather. "You'll never be able to figure out what's in that box, dear. It's far too old to have been seen recently, and it's size does not equate to what it is." He waved her aside with the fan, and, with a flourish, extracted an exacto-blade from his sleeves.

"I'll leave you the honors of opening it, seeing as you are so curious." He mused, presenting her the blade handle first. His surprising lack of a lecture on 'the importance and history of this sacred object blah blah blah' left her suspicious, but she took the blade anyway. With a few quick slices the front of the cardboard fell away, and the back half was extracted.

A mass of packing bubbles and tape mocked her in the rooms florescent light, and she growled. "Now I know why you didn't want to open it, you old codger! This could take hours!" She grumbled at him, sending daggers at the unnameable object in front of her. He laughed and pushed his hands into his sleeves, sitting on a stool he had brought in solely for the purpose of sorting and appraising their many 'valuable' objects (Kagome thought, though she kept it to herself, that he came into the room to sleep without disturbance. He was getting on in years, after all).

With an aggression born of frustration - and a particularly decided hate for packing tape - Kagome tore into the well constructed bubble monster with a vengeance.

After fifteen minutes of vicious hacking - and a fare amount of muttered oaths - the dreaded bubble wrap lay in shreds on the floor around the mystery item, Kagome at it's center. She, however, was too shocked to notice her little tornado of distruction about her, her mind so focused on the object before her that she barely noticed when the blade slipped from her fingers, hitting the floor with a gentle clatter.

It was a mirror.

A grand, wrought iron mirror, easily as tall as she was, and just as wide.

Something pricked at her memory - _a break in the darkness, an opening, reflecting_ - and then was gone, her wonder at the item overriding the whispers of false (haunting) memories.

The mirror itself was perfectly round, reflecting everything back without blemish or fingerprint. It was possibly the clearest glass she had ever seen, excluding actual window glass. But that was not even the tip of the iceberg of peculiarity about it. It's edges, the part that connected to its frame, were tinted red, easily an inch in. The fading was so perfect that the only way to see the true color was at the vary verge of the mirror and its frame. The frame itself was a masterpiece of metalmade up of a series of entwining vines and stars, leaves and full petaled flowers, the filigree so delicate in some parts it looked thin enough to break, in other places thick enough to be a weapon if broken off from its mother work. At the top of the mirror rested a double-hand sized crescent moon, tinted faintly purple in the light. At the two directional corners of East and West, tiny swords had been cast, their trailing hilt wraps linking them to the vines. At the bottom of the mirror were the profiles of two women's faces, back to back, although at her angle Kagome could not tell the difference between them.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Her grandfather murmured, barely audible in the silence.

"It... It's amazing. Where did you get it?" She asked, reaching a tentative finger out to the mirrors frame, delicately tracing a vine on its twisting path.

"An archaeologist friend of the family found it while working in the mountains. Said it had been found in the ruins of a castle in a cave of all places." He elaborated, gazing at the mirror with a critical eye. "There are four other pieces that were found with it, and they'll be shipped here at intervals later in the month." He grinned suddenly, and Kagome, watching him in the mirror, frowned at him. "Legend says they belonged to a warlord and his princess, and that he had a castle made for her at some unknown location, but, due to some great danger of the time, he had a second castle built within the mountain, and that these things were part of the wealth he moved to the second castle." He nodded sagely, his fingers stroking his beard, eyes narrowed in thought. "The castle really is built into the mountain, though. It's vary walls are the mountains face. The craftsmanship on the walls, the vary structure of it, however, suggests magic or some great tool lost to us now." He laughed and patted Kagome's shoulder, his face crinkling with lines of mirth. "Some even believe it to be aliens!"

She snorted, her eyes darting back to the mirror, her finger alighting on the Eastward sword.

_Tokijin,_ her mind whispered, and she jerked her finger back, the faint edge to the swords blade nicking her finger. She grimaced at the cut, a tiny bead of blood welling up from the little slice. The swords blade seemed to flicker minutely as the blood she left behind on it trickled down its length, but the drop, and the distortion, was gone just as quickly.

"Ch. I have to get going Grandpa, Inuyasha will be mad if I'm later than I already am." She said, pressing her finger against her thigh to staunch the minute bleeding. With a tired grin she turned and left the room, her grandfather trailing behind her, humming in understanding.

After they had been gone some time - long enough for Kagome to pack and jump into the well - the mirror seemed to shift slightly, as though gathering it's awareness into one place. It pulsed, glowed a faint red at it's edges, and the moon at its head shined a brighter purple than before.

Just slightly.

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I'm pretty sure everyone has dissected my little plot-stew. You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. Don't expect a whole bunch of awesome here. It's just a bowl of ideas I shook up and forced into one. Makes my life interesting. 1,868 words. Lets hope for consistency.


	2. Leaping and Flying

**Hello:** Lutair  
**Rating:** T (so far)  
**Pairing:** Sesshomaru Kagome  
**Prompt:** Self-prompt - turn  
**Beta:** None  
**Warning:** Swearing, violence, author liberties  
Dizclaim'd.

Thank you **NanaoFan **for reviewing. It means a lot. In response to your question, yes there is a smidge of Diana Wynne Jones in there. I've read Howls _Moving Castle_ (like I'm sure most people who've seen the movie have) and started _Castle in the Air_, ironically after reading _House of Many Ways_.

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"_Something wicked this way comes._" – _(unk. I.e. I can't find it)_

_**Ch.2:**_ In which a girl climbs and a demon flies

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Kagome, pleasantly ignorant to the supernatural happenings in her home storage room, clambered laboriously up the primary vine that drooped into the well, growling with the effort of carrying her – overtly stuffed – backpack. Inuyasha had not come to retrieve her, as she had suspected and slightly hoped he would, and though she did not morn his incessant barbs, she distressed over the fact that she _didn't_ miss his snappishness. It had, she concluded while dragging her bag over the well rim, started with Kikyou's increasing involvement with their merry band of shard-hunters, and Inuyasha's "cling-like-a-burr" devotion to their half-a-century old romance. Not, Kagome mused, that she could blame him. Kagome herself was both a realist and a die-hard romantic, which, with Kikyou's reappearance in their lives, had made her rather observant to the actions and inactions of their group.

Inuyasha, for all his sincerity and honor, could not bring himself to tell Kagome of his trysts with the resurrected miko, and the others could not bring themselves to rat Inuyasha out. Kagome herself didn't mind particularly – although a part of her still clung to the hope that once the jewel was whole again the hanyou would turn to her instead of her ancestor, but that diminished every time he returned smelling of… well, stale death, whisps of spirit-miko power draping about him. All in all, she was rather impassive on the matter, mostly because the pros and cons of even proposing a relationship with the half-demon where too evenly matched to make an easy decision on. Not only would he outlive her if he stayed half-and-half, she would be more susceptible to sickness and death in general by staying back, as well as the guilt of leaving her family behind in the future. Which in itself was an odd thought.

With these little ramblings swirling lazily in her head, Kagome worked her way down the path to the village, rather pleased that, due to regular bouts of frantic running – thanks to the all-too-willing demons that seemed hell-bent on chasing her – the task was not as demanding as it had been almost a year and a half ago.

That thought almost brought her to a halt, but she was passing through the rice paddies and the paths were damp from recent rain. A year and a half. Mentally ticking off weeks, she concluded that the two-year anniversary of her time hopping – and therefore her birthday – would occur at the end of the month. Eyes narrowing in speculation, an idea, or rather a suspicion, rose in her mind, but was quickly filed away when the vigorous shout of, "Kagome!" reached her ears, and she pushed her lips into a smile.

The object of her thoughts – one of them at least – was jogging amiably toward her, eyebrows raised in confusion. "What are you doing? You could have yelled for me!" he demanded, crossing his arms when he finally came to a stop in front of her. The tint of death – unnatural life, rather – tweaked her senses, and the faint purpleness of it evaporated off his person in the sunlight. Kikyou walked in the shade often now.

"… and you'd better have my ramen!" Blinking in confusion, Kagome looked from Inuyasha's eyes, to his shoulder, where her eyes had drifted to watch the smoke-like remnants of friendly shadows float away. Glancing back at the half demon, Kagome concluded that he was unaware of the spiritual tag that the dead miko left behind.

Pulling her mind back to the hanyou and the secondary heart of his existence, Kagome fell into the routine with a smile. "Of course I have your ramen. I hate it when you send me back."

.

It was… lazy, at best. The youkai were weak, few and far between, and the shard pull was distant and faint, suggesting a far away sliver. She was certain, however, due to the stronger pull of shards behind them, that Naraku was farther away from a prospective catch than they were. There had been no random visits from Kouga, Miyoga or Totosai – however improbable the latter might have been – and the events that had transpired during her absence had been worn smooth with gossip and speculation. It was a companionable silence they traveled in, their general noise comprised of footsteps and the _ti-ting_ of the rings on Miroku's staff.

Peace, however brief, is always to be savored, Kagome noted as youkai tickled her senses. Of course their little reprieve was short lived, because Inuyasha felt it too, only deigned not to raise major alarm about it. "The bastard's coming," was his only comment, and the entire party simply hummed in understanding before shaking themselves into proper "great the taiyoukai" mode, which, in the long run, was just a higher state of polite interest, and, on occasion, polite-er negotiation.

The demon alighted in their path, youki disappearing like fog after he released the cloud and strode purposefully toward Inuyasha.

"Brother." The hanyou growled out, more out of tradition than actual aggression towards his half sibling. Since the taiyoukai had obtained his left arm – and therein Bakusaiga in the process – they had been in an awkward sort of standstill; neither particularly sure how to broach what seemed to be a century old feud.

"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru replied, tilting his head in smug acknowledgement. They spoke quickly, exchanging what, Kagome assumed, was the demonic form of pleasantries about things like the weather, and from what she caught, the state of a vary old castle.

"You'll be taking most of the metals with you, right? Those bastards that used to serve him would probably take 'em if you left with out the important stuff." Inuyasha was saying. She could only speculate as to what they were talking about, but she was pretty sure that it was their father, seeing as it was probably the easiest topic to roll over between the two.

"Hn."

Inuyasha scuffed his foot against the ground, blatantly embarrassed about something he was thinking, and, just as Kagome had started to wonder if it was something particularly bad – "Hey, brother, I'm banging this dead human miko. Don't look forward to any little quarter-demon nieces or nephews though, I don't think she can have pups" – he blurted what had obviously been tormenting him.

"That four piece set from our mothers should go with you!" It was too loud in the silence that had been its preface, and the silence thereafter reached a level of awkward previously unachieved. The majority of the gathering was curious, one brother was exceptionally embarrassed, and the other was stewing in something Kagome presumed to be a stunned silence, though his face betrayed none of what he thought.

"It will." He stated, before inclining his head and letting his gaze sweep over their party, lingering slightly on Kagome at his brother's shoulder before taking off in a flurry of dust, youki, and fluttering silks.

She was almost certain he had been frowning.

.

In the distance, deep within an ancient forest in the mountains to the West, squirreled away in one of the many rooms of the castle's confines, a group of objects wrapped in delicate cloth pulsed. A gentle humming emitted from them, the glow about them tangy with the feel of youki, but beneath that, something purer…

.

Suspended on his cloud of youki, Sesshomaru flew toward his Father's greatest strong hold, The Western Castle. It was, if anything, a shrine to his mother. During his courtship of the inu-taiyoukai princess, Inu no Taisho had constructed the Castle as a present to his would-be wife. The Castle was a sprawling expanse of inu tradition, from the fore gates to the back gardens. The _shoji_ screens had been imprinted with an image after image of one of the inu-youkai's great historical figures, one right after the other in chronological order, and when they had run out, scenes from inu folklore, expensive but subtle flower prints, and historical art. The Castle screamed wealth and the power to defend it, from the stone of the _koma inu_ that guarded the gates to the range of expensive woods that made up the floor, walls, and ceiling of the Castle. Even the its stone work, tastefully mixed in with the wood – his father had foresight enough to anticipate attacks that may have involved fire – was exceptionally rare and pricey.

All in all, The Castle of the Inu Hime was his father's crown jewel in displays of power and wealth, and when partnered with his equally powerful and wealthy wife, had been a display of perfect breeding. Sesshomaru was distinctly proud of his lineage, however little respect that afforded him, considering where is father had gone after courting his mother.

He wouldn't dwell on that, though. It was of little use to pine over the past when it could not be changed, even by someone as powerful as himself. Instead, he focused on the present, and the peculiar tickling feeling he had felt upon seeing his brother's miko. It was not particularly unpleasant, just unusual. He had seen her a fare number of times – what with seeking out his brother for the Tetsusaiga – but he had never taken much interest in her when she wasn't directing reiki-powered arrows at him.

She reminded him, in an off-way, of Rin. They were both human, tailing beings of demonic origin, and both seemed to draw sunlight from the vary air around them and wrap it around themselves. Rin was wise in a way that bespoke past trauma while remaining hidden under the thick veneer of childhood, while the miko seemed to realize the workings of the world in a way that implied she had seen much and been able to do little. This, he was sure, was due to involvement with his half-brother, although it was not _inconceivable_ that she had been through some sort of hurt before meeting him.

Shaking his thoughts from the miko – and a half-memory that seemed to elude his attempts at pinning it down – he descended on his fathers castle, ready to search for the wrought iron four set that had been bequeathed to Inuyasha by their mothers – a token of trust on his mother's side, possibly an olive branch of the metallic kind – and, recently, turned over to his own inheritance.

He briefly entertained the thought of leaving the castle as it was – youki barrier depleted, potential raid threats lurking only miles from its veritable treasure trove of inu heritage and wealth – but dismissed it just as quickly.

.

In Kagome's time, two weeks had passed, and the second piece to the artifact set had been delivered to her grandfather, this one with much less grumbling and bemoaning of unskilled movers. This artifact was simply wheeled in on a dolly and deposited, though the steadiness of its mover betrayed nothing about its contents.

Out of consideration for his granddaughter – and a suspicious inkling that he should _not_ open the box – Kagome's grandfather left the box next to the mirror.

Well into the night, while the rest of the house lay in slumber, the mirror glowed faintly red once again, the moon at its crest pulsating a deeper purple. The unopened box shuddered in response, before going still once more.

* * *

I'm rather proud. I wrote Sesshomaru for the first time. It's hard staying impassive on everything, even in this little snippet of an intro. Oh, before y'all start asking: the four-piece set that Inuyasha says Sesshomaru can have is slightly different than the five set that Kagome is getting in her time. You'll understand as I update. Also, if they seem a little bit OCC well, suck it up. I didn't make them, so I'm obviously going to mutilate them with my writing. 1,874 words.

EDIT: Ok, so I have had this written up and sitting here for a while, I'm just really unhappy with it, but I'm too lazy to change it. It's like a blah-filler. blah blah. muh.


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